Armenian

language that forms a separate branch of the
Indo-European language family. (It was once erroneously considered a dialect
of Iranian.) Armenian is the mother tongue of the Turkish Armenians and of
the Armenians in Armenia, where it is spoken by 2,850,000 people. In other
parts of the former Soviet Union, especially in the neighbouring republics
of Georgia and Azerbaijan, it is used by some 1,300,000. Armenian emigrants
and refugees have taken their language with them all over Asia Minor and the
Middle East and from there to many European countries, especially Romania,
Poland, and France, and to America, particularly the United States. In all,
Armenian is probably spoken by about 5,500,000 people around the world. (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)